Page 36 of Take the Lead

A t our cha-cha practice the next day, Aleksis admits he spent the rest of the evening thinking about how to get us more press coverage ahead of the next live show, now the rueda practices will take up most of our free time this week.

‘Sofiya’s going to check in with Stella to see if she has any recommendations for Friday night,’ he says.

‘Although I’m not sure how likely the Scene would be to feature us on just another date night.

It would probably have to be something a bit more newsworthy than that. I’ve been racking my brains.’

‘We could always move in together,’ I laugh. And in the silence that follows I wish I could eat my words. I’m not sure he realises I was joking. He must think I’m insane.

But then he says, ‘It would get people talking,’ and it’s my turn to properly consider it. It would certainly give Stella another exclusive that would put us ahead of the game again. Which is what we both want, isn’t it?

‘I think we should do it,’ Aleksis says decisively. ‘There’s a spare room at mine – you could come and stay there. We just won’t tell anyone else that’s where you’re sleeping and they’ll never know any different. What do you reckon?’

What I reckoned was that he wouldn’t take my flippant suggestion seriously. I can’t move in with Aleksis, can I? But I suppose it’s only for a couple of weeks, so we could probably make it work. We spend so much time together now, a little more shouldn’t be too difficult. Not for me, at any rate.

I decide to throw caution to the wind and tell him I could be talked into it.

‘You could bring your things to the studio tomorrow morning and we could go back to the flat straight after the rueda session,’ he suggests, his enthusiasm building.

‘I could get Sofiya to meet us there and take a few pictures of us arriving, which she can send to Stella. I’m sure she’ll be happy to help. ’

‘If we’re going to do it, we would need to make sure everyone knows about it,’ I agree.

He takes this as my consent and starts typing a text to Sofiya to ask if she’s free for camera duties. I could still change my mind and tell him not to send it, but I don’t. And Sofiya replies immediately to say she thinks it’s a great idea.

It’s followed moments later by another message to say Stella is also on board. I can’t help wondering if I’ve just thrown myself into yet another Fire on the Dance Floor frying pan.

But for once I can read Aleksis’s expression and he looks delighted we’ve found a way to keep our names in the headlines. Until his phone pings again and all the joy drains from his face.

‘What is it?’ I ask in alarm.

‘There’s some other news from Stella and I don’t think you’re going to like it,’ he says.

‘Tell me,’ I urge, steeling myself for whatever might follow.

‘She’s found out who sold those photos of you to the papers.’

Which I wouldn’t have thought was that significant if his forehead wasn’t so deeply creased. My apprehension grows as I’m forced to seriously consider that it might have been someone I know. And then Aleksis confirms it.

‘It was Liam,’ he sighs, and it feels like all the air has been sucked out of my lungs. My friend Liam? Who’s always been such a sweetheart, bigging up the rest of us even after he went out of the show?

I reach for the ballet barre to steady myself as I try to make sense of it. I just can’t imagine Liam being the one who stabbed me in the back.

‘Is she absolutely sure?’ I eventually splutter.

Aleksis rests a comforting hand on my arm. ‘I’m sorry. It must be a shock.’

It’s more than that. I can barely get my words out. ‘But why? What did I ever do to him?’

‘I don’t think it was because of anything you did. According to Stella, he was paid five thousand pounds.’

‘Five thousand pounds!’ I feel my blood starting to boil. ‘I mean, that makes more sense – it’s a lot of money – but …’

I can’t get my head around it. I can’t imagine anyone being that cruel to someone they know, let alone Liam.

How could he have done this, then had the gall to carry on as if he’d done nothing wrong?

When I see him tomorrow, I’m going to … I don’t even know.

Give him a piece of my mind for a start – that’s the least he deserves.

In fact, I’m not going to wait till tomorrow.

I’m going to have this out with him right now.

I grab my phone and storm out of the studio.

I pace up and down the corridor while I wait for him to answer my call, but he doesn’t pick up. Infuriated, I decide to post a message in the Fire Dancers chat instead. After all, the others deserve to know what their so-called pal is like, before he does anything similar to them.

‘ I’ve just found out who took those photos of me and Merle and sold them to the press,’ I type furiously.

‘ Liam, you two-faced prick, how could you? You even pretended you were concerned about me afterwards. I guess you thought I’d never find out, right?

Well, you were wrong. And now everyone else knows what a lying piece of shit you are too.

I can’t believe I ever considered you a friend. ’

Beth replies first. ‘ OMG Liam, is this true? Did you really do that? ’

‘ Oh fuck ,’ Tammy writes. ‘ Why, Liam? What were you thinking? ’

‘ I’m sorry ,’ comes his simpering reply. ‘ I had a moment of madness after I got kicked off the show. It was my only chance to still get the money for the gym. I didn’t think about the consequences. And then it was too late to undo it. I’m so, so sorry. ’

‘ Your only chance? ’ My anger flies off the scale.

‘ There are a billion other ways you could have got the money for your stupid gym – and none of them include ruining my life. You put me through hell. I thought I’d never be able to show my face again.

In a million years I never imagined the lowlife behind it would be you. ’

He starts typing again but I realise there’s nothing more he can say that I want to know.

Fighting back tears of rage, I block him and remove myself from the chat.

The fact that it was him – a friend – is almost as bad as the pictures being out there in the first place. How could he betray me like that?

I storm back into the studio and throw my phone into my bag.

‘Anything I can do?’ Aleksis asks softly.

‘Not unless you’ve got a bottle of vodka hidden somewhere in here,’ I reply, only half joking.

‘I can offer you a lukewarm coffee and a KitKat?’ he says. And he sounds so genuinely upset that he can’t offer me anything stronger that my fury dissipates a little. It reminds me there are some good people in the world.

‘Can we just change the subject?’ I request, suddenly wanting to throw myself back into our cha-cha practice and forget everything else. ‘I don’t want to waste any more time thinking about it.’

‘Of course,’ he nods. And we rehearse until it’s time for me to go home and pack a suitcase for the big move tomorrow.

Lucy is unexpectedly enthusiastic when I tell her I’ll be staying at Aleksis’s place for a few weeks. I thought she might question the wisdom of it, even if it does give her and Aiden the Balham flat to themselves for a while.

‘You never know, he might get so used to you being there that he doesn’t want you to leave,’ she says, with a twinkle in her eye.

I pretend to be insulted. ‘And there I was thinking you might miss me around here.’

‘Of course I will. Who else is going to leave toothpaste in the sink and forget to take the recycling out?’ she teases.

‘Aiden,’ we say simultaneously and burst out laughing.